This invention relates in general to an improved barbecue unit for spit cooking and grill cooking food outdoors on a patio or the like. More particularly, the invention is directed to a portable gas fired cooking unit having a vertical firebox for cooking spit mounted foodstuffs from the side and optionally having a horizontal firebox for enhancing spit cooking and for grill cooking from below.
Vertical fireboxes or baskets supporting burning charcoal have previously been used as sources of cooking heat for barbecue grills and the like. In some instances, the charcoal basket is movable between a vertical position and a horizontal position to permit grilling either from the side or from below. However, such grills lack versatility in that the heat source must be in one position or the other and cannot supply cooking heat from both directions simultaneously. Because of their random arrangement and uneven combustion, charcoal briquets do not provide a uniform source of heat. Furthermore, the cooking heat from burning charcoal can only be varied by physical adjustment of the distance between the firebox and the foodstuff, any such adjustment during the cooking process requiring gloves or the like for handling the hot components involved.
A further difficulty encountered with prior art grilling devices is excessive charring of food resulting from the uncontrolled flareup of grease falling on charcoal briquets. Grease ignited by the burning charcoal often produces a flame that comes into direct contact with the food. This carbonizes and discolors food surfaces and imparts a bad taste to the food. Although drip pans and other shields have been employed to intercept falling grease, insertion of such devices between the charcoal bed and the food holder leads to inadequate cooking of the food because the heating capacity of charcoal is relatively low and does not provide significant convection heat around such barriers. In addition, those vertical fireboxes found in the prior art are of a highly specialized construction designed only for the particular grill disclosed and are not readily adaptable for installation on pre-existing grilling units. Anyone wanting a vertical grill at the present time must purchase an entirely new and specialized unit with the attendant expense. This and all of the foregoing disadvantages are eliminated through the use of the present invention.